


What Happens at Kabukicho

by Gumihou



Category: Gintama
Genre: Crossdressing, Excessive Use of Lipstick, Fight Scenes, HijiGin, Lovely, M/M, Mayoyo is a Romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:40:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28621188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gumihou/pseuds/Gumihou
Summary: Gintoki was having a shitty day.He had just gotten off a shift at the okama bar and was not looking forward to going home to an empty house when a couple of obnoxious drunks started to harass him. Gintoki was contemplating the pros and cons of throwing his glass of whatever into their faces when the door to the bar opened, and in walked the Demon Vice-Commander himself.Brilliant.
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69
Collections: Gintama THE FINAL: The Compressed Timeline Mini Reverse Bang Fanworks Event





	What Happens at Kabukicho

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ichigotonyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ichigotonyu/gifts).



> This is my first HijiGin fic. A challenge! But Mayoyo turns out to be a very lovely Salty Rye Bread who just needs time get to know. While his charms isn't as obvious as Gin-san, our favourite Mayoyo is a romantic! Aaahhhh!!!
> 
> The wonderful Juliette JFishfood drew all the art here. This fic would not have happened without them!
> 
> Be sure to check out her other works at https://ichigotonyu.tumblr.com/

**Stays at Kabukicho**

No matter what some people might think, Hijikata Toushirou was not actually a demon. Nor was he incapable of being tired, feeling compassion or other mushy human-related emotions. There were days when he just wanted to chill and relax, not see another soul he recognise and just go with the flow.

This was the only reason why he bothered to even walk into this dingy, low ceiling bar with its questionable clientele on his off day. Within the dim bar, the obnoxiously white hair and equally white kimono with pink patterns glowed like a beacon in the dark, drawing his eyes like gravity. 

He stood there just a little too long to make it proper for him to leave gracefully. It was also the reason why he had not noticed two other scruffy looking customers blending into the background like extras in 'a dingy bar' scene.

That was, until they decided to open their obnoxious mouths and announce their presence.

“Hey lady, come pour our sake,” said one.

The other guy laughed as though his friend had just told a fantastic joke.

At first, Hijikata could not quite understand the remark, but then he noticed the feminine obi, and mass of white hair tied up in twin bunches. How the hell had he missed that? He must have been more out of it than he thought.

One of the waste of space wolf-whistled and the other pursed up his lips to make obnoxious kissing noises. Hijikata's eye twitched. The sword on his waist slipped to his hand and made a thump right in front of the two drunks.

“Gentlemen,” said Hijikata, “I’ll have to ask you to refrain from bothering the lady.”

“That ain’t no lady!” one protested, he had a gap in his teeth.

“Yeah!” Dirty Drunk Two piped up.

Hijikata thumbed his sword open with a click as he narrowed his eyes at them. Luckily, their drunken stupor did not prevent them from sensing danger. They soon shut up and scuttled back to their corner, nursing their alcohol of choice, pretending to be deaf, dumb and blind to everything.

“You’ve made a wise decision today,” Hijikata commented, before fixing his sword back to his waist. He made his way to the bar, where the ‘lady’ sat. The kimono she was wearing was white, with light pink accents. It was a little like looking at a parody of the protagonist kimono, except this one has pink flowers on it instead of light blue swirls. A shawl in deep maroon, matching the obi on her waist, draped about her shoulders. Possibly to hide the adam's apple.

“One beer,” said Hijikata, not looking at her direction.

“My hero,” drawled a voice pitched just a little too high to be natural. “I see the Vice-Commander is working overtime?”

Hijikata finally turned to look at the ‘lady’ in question. For some inexplicable reason, he really could not be bothered to even think up a reason why Sakata Gintoki of Yorozuya would be here, in this out-of-the-way dive of a bar, dressed in female clothing. It was just one of those things, life would be better for him if he did not look too closely at certain things in life.

He snorted and turned away, “I’m rescuing them from you,” he said, accepting a beer from the bartender. The bottle was cold at least. He ignored the glass and popped the top off to drink it directly from the mouth.

“Oh?” somehow, that little syllable seemed packed with menace.

“You’d probably break their necks and I’d have to file paperwork on it or something,” he gestured at the half-filled glass of something in Yorozuya’s hand, “What’cha drinking?”

“This?” Yorozuya shook the glass. “Just soda and water, I’m trying to sober up before going home.”

“Want a- I don’t know, a ginger beer or something?” somehow, Hijikata felt compelled to keep talking.

“Are you buying?” Yorozuya was no longer speaking in that unnatural tone of voice. The way he looked, leaning over on forearms too muscular for a woman, a mouth too red for decency and eyes made too large by makeup stirred something inside Hijikata.

He had always found Yorozuya fascinating.

There was something oddly charismatic about that crazy perm that drew him like a helpless moth. It was those eyes, he thought. People always noticed the hair and that lazy stance first, but the eyes were what drew Hijikata’s attention most. There was something dark and impenetrable inside them and Hijikata had always like poking at dangerous things. The habit never left him. Yorozuya was dangerous, and Hijikata knew he could get seriously hurt from poking at this hive.

You may call him a fool or an idiot, but never let it be said that Hijikata Toushirou was a coward.

Therefore, when Yorozuya pursed his too red lips and said, “Sure, buy me a ginger beer.”

He signalled for the bartender and gave the order without ever turning away.

000000

Just what is this guy playing at?

Gintoki had just gotten off a shift at the okama bar serving a huge party. He had drunk too much with the girls and somehow, once he stepped off the noisy bar into a quiet street, his mood plummeted. If there had been a river on his way home, he might have been tempted to walk a little too close and play hopscotch with fate in his impractical geta sandals.

Instead, he had come to this little bar and ordered an overpriced glass of bubble water. He had been staring at the glass, wondering just how he had ended up hanging out at the bottom of this trash pile and getting catcalled by drunks of all things. He had been entertaining thoughts of improving his mood by smashing his glass into the faces of some idiots when the harsh tone of a certain vice-commander reached his ears. Gintoki was beyond shame at this moment. If Hijikata made fun of him, he’d slit the man’s throat, or maybe not.

The whole bar was too quiet now, and the drag of the stool was like a screeching bird of prey. When Hijikata sat down next to him, Gintoki could feel the cold radiating off his clothes. It was December now, and though it was not quite winter yet, it was getting there. Gintoki tried provoking the man out of habit, but his attempt was half-hearted at best.

Everything felt muted. It seemed to take a lot of effort just to think properly. Thoughts and images cruised lazily in his mind, when suddenly, a bottle of ginger beer thumped in front of him.

“You want a glass?”

For a moment, Gintoki looked directly at Hijikata. “Why did you do that?”

The fine eyebrows drew together, “What?”

Gintoki waved one hand and said, “The rescue, why do it?”

“I told you already, I didn’t do it for you.”

“I’d believe you if you’re better at lying,” Gintoki was not interested in trading barbs around this. “Why?”

Hijikata sighed, then pushed the bottle of ginger beer over, “Just drink it from the bottle. It tastes better that way.”

Gintoki grabbed the bottle by the neck and took a swig. The sweet bubbly liquid burned a little like beer, but left a sweet refreshing after taste. It was true, drinking it from the bottle _was_ nicer. He stared at Hijikata some more. Unexpectedly, Hijikata caved sooner than he thought with a sigh and said, “I know what it’s like okay? It’s terrible to be cat-called while on duty.”

Gintoki froze.

Wait.

Cat-called while on duty?

Who dares cat-call the Demon Vice-Commander while he’s on duty?

Unless people didn’t realise he was on duty?

Why would people not realise he was on duty?

Undercover?

Was he undercover as a host or handsome guy?

Or-

“What do you mean you know what it’s like to be cat-called on duty?”

“I mean, I know it’s uncomfortable for people to be harassed while on the job,” said Hijikata in a voice that was probably meant to be neutral but screams ‘hiding something’.

Gintoki narrowed his eyes, “One of those things is a lie,”

Hijikata stared passively back at Gintoki, before turning away, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lie!”

Hijikata drank his beer.

Gintoki was practically plastered against Hijikata now as he tried to stare into those evasive eyes. “You just said, you know what it’s like.” He pitched the register of his voice into a seductive mode and crooned, “Just what is it that you know, Hijikata-kun?”

Hijikata cleared his throat. He was clearly uncomfortable, but he was not backing away. It was like trying to cuddle up against an iron Buddha. Gintoki narrowed his eyes, is this guy trying to play hard to get? Well, Gin-san could play with him too. Smirking, he let one hand fall onto a thigh and watched as Hijikata’s breathing picked up the pace.

“Hijikata-kun~ talk to Paako-chan~” Gintoki leaned in and blew into his ear. He watched in fascination as Hijikata’s cheeks reddened, but his expression did not otherwise change. Suddenly, Gintoki wondered what that ikemen would look like with bright red lips.

He tried a threat, “I’ll ask Sofa-kun,” he said softly.

Finally, Hijikata looked at him. Those cheeks were still flushed with emotions, but there was a challenge in those blue eyes. “Go ahead, you’ll find nothing.”

The excitement of the hunt coursed through Gintoki’s veins, “So there _is_ something!”

“I admit nothing,” said Hijikata, still maintaining eye contact.

Oho, are you challenging Gin-san’s resourcefulness?

Suddenly, they were interrupted by very pointed throat clearing. The bartender set a glass of water onto the table with a loud thump, and glared pointedly at them. Gintoki suddenly felt self-conscious about his pink and white kimono and the gunk on his face, not to mention the ridiculous twintails… he was about to pull away when an arm slipped around his shoulders and he was pulled against a strong chest. The smell of snow and cigarette smoke enveloped him.

“Ya got a problem with something?” Hijikata’s country accent thickened as he leaned forward on his other arm.

“No trouble, no trouble,” muttered the bartender. “Don’t want no trouble,”

“Good, let’s keep it that way. We’re leaving,” he tossed some money onto the table and got up with his arm still around Paako. “Come on, let’s get out of this dive.”

With their similar heights, Hijikata’s arm fell naturally from Gintoki’s shoulders to his waist. Somehow, even through the thick obi, Hijikata’s arm felt hot against his skin. They stepped out of the bar and into the cold night. The air stung their faces and he felt Hijikata shivered at a stray breeze. A glance at the man showed that he was only wearing his winter yukata without a haori or scarf. Paako’s outfit came with a dark pink shawl, but he had also tucked a thin white shawl as a spare in her sleeves. Gintoki took the spare shawl out now and wound it around Hijikata’s exposed neck like a scarf.

000000

The white shawl felt warm from Gintoki’s heat, but somehow, Hijikata still shivered.

“Idiot,” he said an oddly affectionate voice, “what are you doing running around without a scarf when you’re this scared of the cold?”

“Who’s scared of the cold?” Hijikata countered, but he kept the makeshift scarf.

A hand crept up to pat his bottom playfully before snaking around his waist. Hot breath cooed against his ear, “Don’t worry Hijikata-kun, Paako-chan will keep you warm~”

“Tch,” but his tone belied his actions. They walked together out of some wordless, tacit agreement towards the Yorozuya office. It was times like this when they instinctively know what the other was thinking that was so precious to Hijikata. All too soon, they were standing under the stairs to the Yorozuya office.

Hijikata was about to remove the shawl from around his neck when Gintoki stopped him. Both hands clasping the shawl on either side of Hijikata’s neck. “Hey, um, thanks for tonight. The ginger beer, I mean.”

Hijikata cleared his throat, “Sure, anytime.”

Suddenly, like a striking snake, Gintoki pressed closer. Hijikata opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was swallowed away by a warm, agile mouth. They stood there for seconds, minutes, pressing into each other’s warmth and kissing under the buzzing lamplight of Kabukicho’s streets. Hijikata slipped his hands around Gintoki’s waist and pressed the small of his back close, then closer still.

When they finally parted, panting and breathing into each other’s space, he saw the smirk on Gintoki’s lips and had to lean forward to lick that cheeky little curve with the tip of his tongue. 

“Hey,” Gintoki breathed, “wanna come upstairs?”

000000

Hijikata came upstairs.

Why did he come upstairs?

Gintoki was in turmoil now. He had just blurted the out the invitation as a joke, but then Hijikata had nodded and came up with him. What was he expecting to do here? What was Gintoki expecting him to do here?

“Oh, and, er, Kagura’s not here,” shut up me! “So we don’t have to keep quiet,” just what do you expect us to do that’s noisy! Stop being a perv!

“Aah,”

“…” just what was that supposed to mean!?

Shit, were they about to have sex? Not that Gintoki has any objection about having sex with a fine piece like Hijikata. Except, except, oh, god, it was the drag wasn’t it? Was Hijikata attracted to Paako!?

Was he though?

What should Gintoki do if Hijikata was attracted to Paako? He does realise that Paako is all male under the kimono, right? Right?

“Hey,” a hand touched his elbow, it was gentle, just enough pressure for attention, but even a frail girl could pull away if she wants to. “We don’t have to do anything, alright?” Blue eyes shifted away, “I can leave…”

“No!” Gintoki’s vehemence shocked both of them. Snow fell from the roof and scattered down on their heads. Some went down Hijikata’s impractical neckline and he shivered. Gintoki made up his mind, “Come inside and warm up first. I’ll make you some coffee.”

Hijikata gave him an odd look, but did not protest, “Alright.”

As they waited for Gintoki to unlock the door, the same thought ran through their minds.

_Just what the heck am I doing?_

“Excuse the intrusion,” Hijikata murmured as he crossed the threshold and took off his sandals.

“So, um,” Gintoki wiped suddenly sweaty hands against his kimono, “bathroom’s through here and, er, you might want to freshen up, a little.” Gintoki touched his own lip, smirking at Hijikata, before escaping to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he was all thumbs as glasses, spoons and other things clattered around him. Fuck, he was out of coffee, there was only Nilo available. Well, everyone likes Nilo, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but Gintoki has one clear advantage when it came to having a guest like Hijikata over. He went to the fridge and unearthed a half-empty bottle of mayonnaise from behind a wilting head of lettuce.

Normally, food doesn’t get a chance to rot in this household, but at their last job, the client paid in sacks of lettuce and not even Kagura’s yato appetite could take any more of it. They had bought mayonnaise and salad oil to help grease the salad down, but it was getting ridiculous. He heard the door to the bathroom door rattled open, then closed. Knowing that there’s another door between himself and Hijikata calmed his nerves somewhat, and soon a couple of steaming mugs of Nilo was done and Gintoki brought them over to the kotatsu table with a tray.

The tray clattered onto the table, and Gintoki seized one of the mugs and took a sip. Then, he settled down to wait.

He fidgeted.

He switched on the kotatsu.

And waited some more.

Gintoki's fingers started drumming on the top of the kotatsu as thoughts ran like escaped llamas in his head. Had he heard wrong just now? Was that the door to the genkan and not the bathroom? Had Hijikata just… left?

He sprang out of his seat and scuttled over to the genkan. Hijikata’s practical straw sandals were still there, tucked neatly next to Gintoki’s geta sandals. The tightness in his chest loosened, but the question remained. Just what was Hijikata doing in the bathroom? Was he… hiding?

Gintoki burst out laughing at the ridiculous thought. In your face Hijikata Toushirou hiding like a coward? No way! But then, why hadn’t he come out? Feeling like a perv, Gintoki crept towards the bathroom door and pressed his ear to it. Nothing, he heard nothing. Gintoki tried tapping on it.

“Oi, Hijikata-kun, don’t tell me you’ve flushed yourself into Mayoland?”

“No,” it was followed by the sounds of flushing water.

Well, at least he knew Hijikata was still there. “If you’re looking for toilet paper, it’s in the cabinet under the sink.”

“Thanks,”

… what’s with all these one-word answers!?

“Hijikata-kun, what are you doing hiding in my bathroom?” yeah, let’s provoke the baragaki a little.

Sure enough a harsh, “I’m not hiding!” snapped out. However, that was all that came out of the bathroom.

“Hijikata?” Gintoki knocked on the door again, feeling a little concerned now.

Nothing this time.

“Hijikata?”

Suddenly, the door flung open. Gintoki nearly had his nose smashed in. Luckily, his years of living on the edge of danger had honed his reaction to the point that he was able to rescue his own face from being ruined by a reckless…

Eh?

Gintoki felt his knees softened, he staggered backwards until his back hit the wall with a thump, “What-” he would have fallen if the hallway had not been so narrow. The only thing that was supporting him now was the wall.

“What the-”

From within the bathroom, stepped out… a person.

Gintoki blinked. The person was wearing the same winter kimono as Hijikata, but that’s where the resemblance ended. The informal winter kimono had been put on… very neatly. Not that it had not been put on right before, but like a typical man Hijikata had more or less slapped it on and went out when it looked like it won’t slip off at a sneeze. Now however… the lines were very crisp, clean and looked almost starched, _how did that happen_?

And that was only the clothes!

The hair!

The V-bang was gone!

Wait, there’s also the lips. For some reason, there were more lipstick on that mouth now. Too much! More importantly, it was a fierce Fire Engine Red that was completely different from Gintoki’s Strawberry Candy Pink! Hijikata narrowed eyes that were shaded with kohl making his defined cheekbones seemed even more cut-your-hands sharp than before!

Suspicions rife in his heart, Gintoki’s eyes travelled to the sink, and there was his open bag of makeup… Gintoki’s makeup bag! Hijikata has been going through Gintoki’s makeup bag!

“You used my makeup!” Gintoki gasped, it somehow seemed prudent to bring this bit up.

Hijikata brushed a hand through his hair. His V-bang-less hair!

Gintoki had no idea what sorcery Hijikata did, but the front bit of his hair has now been swept to the side. 

“Erm,” said Gintoki. “Good evening,” seriously, Hijikata looked like one of those fancy ladies who goes ‘ho ho ho ho’ at each other insincerely over tea and tiny cakes. Gintoki only noticed them because of the cakes, man, he’d like some cake now.

“Good evening,” Hijikata had one sleeve over his mouth. His eyes were slightly curved with mirth and then frighteningly enough, he began to laugh, “Ho ho ho ho ho,”

“…” Gintoki felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

“…”

“… you did not just do that,”

Hijikata raised his sleeves higher until only his eyes could be seen. “Fufufufu…”

“… why are you doing this?”

Hijikata shrugged and lowered his sleeves to casually step past Gintoki, “I thought we have a themed party going on,” he flipped his new sideways bang at Gintoki and smirked. “I’m just fitting in.”

Gintoki gaped.

Hijikata brushed his sleeves down across his chest, “What? Is it not good enough?” 

“No! I mean, it’s-” Oh god, what if this was Hijikata’s way of telling Gintoki about _his secret hobby?_ If Gintoki fucked this up…

He had better not fuck this up.

Hijikata was pressing his sleeves against his mouth now, and his shoulders were shaking.

Oh god, _is he fucking this up now?_ Gintoki was sure there’s a special hell reserved for monsters who made those gorgeous blue eyes tear up with anything less than happiness and pleasure. He waved his hands anxiously, not sure whether he should pat Hijikata on the back or hug him. No, hugging would only bring potentially deadly teeth close to his throat…

Wait, should Gintoki even touch… him?

The shaking intensified and suddenly the hallway was filled with the sound of… laughter?

He had heard Hijikata laughed before. Usually, it was just a short and snide ‘heh’. If he was feeling generous, it might be an indulgent ‘heheh’. What he was hearing now was a peal of ‘Ahahahahahaaa’ that went just a slight bit high pitch at the end as Hijikata collapsed to the floor, shaking with… laugher?

“Oi, oi, oi,” Gintoki felt a vein throbbed on his forehead. He pushed a socked foot against Hijikata’s thigh and shoved, lightly. That was apparently enough to cause Hijikata to tip sideways and was now lying sprawled on Gintoki’s floor. Light from the bathroom slanted across Hijikata’s upturn face, illuminating the bright, slightly curved eyes.

“You should have seen your face!” Hijikata howled, still going ahahahahaaaa clearly not at all sorry for nearly making Gintoki panicked out of his head.

“Tcheh,” said Gintoki, for the lack of a clever retort.

Hijikata continued to snigger as he stared up at Gintoki from the floor. From this angle Gintoki it felt like he was looking down at a cheeky minx smirking at him at futon level. Oh kami-sama, he really did have a cheeky minx smirking at him at futon level!

The cheeky minx leveraged himself up gracefully from the floor, straightened his kimono and tipped his cute and cheeky head with his side-swept hair curving softly around one cheek to the side. Hijikata’s cheeks looked soft and pinch-able from that angle. Those deadly eyes were huge with the eyeliner. Where was the fierce Hiji-Karen from before? “Are you angry?”

Gintoki gave in to the urge to pinch that cheek. Not a gentle pinch either, he stuck his thumb into Hijikata’s mouth and pulled that cheek as though he was stretching out bread dough.

“Ow, ow, ow! Stop it!” the sexy magic disappeared. Which was a kind of relief since Gintoki didn’t know how long he could stand having a sexy, smirky Hijikata in his room any more without pouncing on him.

“Humph!” Gintoki made a show of wiping his thumb against his kimono before turning quickly and flipping one of his twintails at Hijikata. “Are you coming or not?”

“Yes, yes,” Hijikata said, not seeming at all bothered by their little altercation.

“Your Nilo’s cold, but I’m not making a new one for you,”

“Yes, yes,”

“And stop saying that!”

“Hai, hai,” Hijikata appeared very calm as he sailed past Gintoki to sit at the kotatsu. Gintoki could finally see the back of Hijikata’s obi. The freaking mad man had even tied it into a bow shape. There was now a little bow over Hijikata’s pert, perfect bottom, how is life fair! Also, the little socked feet! Ugh, there were just too many points of attraction on Hijikata’s person. Gintoki hurried over to sit opposite of Hijikata, away from the bow above that little butt and those feet.

As soon as he sat down, he realized his mistake.

Hijikata’s ruby red lips, kohl-lined eyes and slasher Karen-hair style fit the smirk on his face too much. Gintoki gave up and thumped his forehead onto the kotatsu.

“Oi, are you alright there?” Hijikata sounded like… Hijikata, which was a relief. He could not face a high pitched, haughty Hiji-Karen with that haughty side bang Karen-hair now.

“Why do you look like that?” Gintoki mouthed to the table.

“Like what?” the smirk, he could hear the smirk!

“Like that!” Gintoki lifted his face from the kotatsu to glare at Hijikata.

The smirk switched over to a mild, shy smile. He had thought that Hiji-Karen with her slasher like smile was devastating. However, when faced with a through the lashes stare of a Hiji-something whose face was angled down at 45 degree was…

Was…

Gintoki had had enough, he leaned over and pinched Hijikata’s cheeks again, twisting that gorgeous construct out of shape.

“What the- hey!” Hijikata tried to jerk his head away. When that didn’t work, he clamped sharp teeth into the soft pads of Gintoki’s palm.

“Ouch! You little-”

Hijikata hissed. Honest to goodness hissed at Gintoki. Sharp blue eyes narrowed under the sideways bang and the next thing Gintoki knew, he was attacked. Hijikata leapt over the kotatsu and body checked Gintoki. The thick pad of Gintoki’s female obi cushioned his fall but did nothing to protect his head. “Ow!” The sound of teeth snapping at his neck caused Gintoki to instinctively jerk back. Just in time too or Hijikata would have bits of bloody earlobe dripping from his teeth. The light in those kohl-lined eyes was feral, the lipstick looked more like bloodstains as he lunged forward with his snapping teeth again.

“Cut it out!” Gintoki seized both wrists, not caring to have those claw-like hands slashing into his skin, and rolled. Pushing the crazy person underneath him, making full use of his extra four kilos to force Hijikata into submission. It was no use. Hijikata just abandoned trying to wriggle out from beneath Gintoki and took a bite at his forearm.

“Shit!”

Instinctively, Gintoki slammed said arm into the ground, stunning Hijikata enough to get him to let go. Gintoki grabbed the opportunity to pull obi off from the ridiculous bow around Hijikata’s waist and looped it around those deceptively thin wrists twice, before securing it around that slim white neck. Then, he mercilessly pulled tight. Now, Hijikata won’t be able to move unless he wanted to choke himself. Gintoki was just congratulating himself on a job well done when a foot shot forward. One of those cute little feet he had been admiring earlier sank into his stomach and he collapsed with a wheeze.

While he was trying to catch his breath, Hijikata scooted over and somehow, with just his legs, grabbed Gintoki in a chokehold. “You!” Luckily, without his hands as leverage, Hijikata was not able to properly gain the leverage to keep Gintoki in place. Also, his dark kimono was now coming loose. This was actually important because Gintoki was now pressed nose to little mayonnaise bottles. There were no visible mayonnaise bottle patterns on the outside of Hijikata’s clothes which could only mean-

Which could only mean his nose was now pressed way too close to a certain Mayora’s underwear!!

Help, thought Gintoki faintly, still trying to pry those powerful legs open. He was starting to get lightheaded. He had no idea whether it was from the pressure around his neck, or the scent coming from-

-it was from the chokehold. He was probably losing oxygen. He was dying. He was-

He was breathing in Hijikata’s scent from his-

The legs had somehow loosened, perhaps Hijikata thought Gintoki had passed out? A particularly dexterous toe prodded him, but Gintoki did not move. He was biding his time. When the legs withdrew just enough, Gintoki pounced up with a roar, but was clocked in the head by a lightning-fast knee strike. Just how freakishly flexible and fast is this Mayora?! What kind of training does one do to take down enemies with just their knees!?

Retreat! Time to retreat! Gintoki scrambled to crawl away on his elbows, but then Hijikata was suddenly on top of him. Harsh breathing panted down the back of his neck, and somehow, somehow even with his hands tied to his neck he was able to grab fistfuls of Gintoki’s hair, clamped him down with just his legs and forced Gintoki into a standstill with just leverage, technique and sheer bloody Hiji-hard-headedness alone.

Shit!

Not even the Yoshiwara women were as flexible and resourceful as this Mayora!

Gintoki tried to roll over, there was no way he was going to let it be known that he had been taken down by someone with their hands literally tied up. Then, Hijikata up the ante by tightening his hold on Gintoki’s hair. He could feel the puff of Hijikata's breath against the back of his neck, “Stay down.” He'd headbutt the fiend, but Hijikata had pulled his head back by the hair enough to the point that trying to crack Hijikata's nose would mean cracking his own neck.

“Fuck you!” Gintoki gasped.

Amazingly, Hijikata sniggered. “Not if I fuck you first,”

Wait, is this some kind of foreplay? A weird and violent foreplay for Hijikata before the main event?

As if to answer his question, a tongue slipped down just under his ear, and dragged itself up the shell of his ear. Gintoki shivered. He shivered even more when Hijikata gently opened his mouth and breathed warm air at the helpless ear.

“You’re crazy,” Gintoki hissed.

Hijikata placed a soft kiss against the side of his neck and sighed, “You make me crazy. I can’t help it.” Then, he loosed his hold on Gintoki's hair.

Gintoki let his head fall into his arms with a thump, but then stiffened. The legs around him were bare, and what he was feeling against his butt now was…

“Are you rubbing your crotch against my butt?” Gintoki asked rhetorically into his elbow.

The grip in his hair loosened some more, “Not good?”

“No! I mean,” Gintoki paused. Hijikata had stopped all movement. “I mean, you can keep... doing that.”

Fingers trailed across the nape of his neck, “Hold on,” said Hijikata, before the sound of teeth gnawing on obi was heard and Gintoki rolled his eyes.

“Oh, for goodness sake,” he shook himself up, this time easily dropping Hijikata off his back like an unwieldy housecoat. Then, he made the mistake of looking down.

The swept aside bangs had flopped into one eye. Red lipstick smeared across lips, chin and teeth made Hijikata looked like a sensual, bloody and sexy vampire who had just fed. No wait, he looked more like a vampire who was about to feed, if the hunger in that one visible eye was anything to go by. The brilliant hue of those gunmetal blues sparked at him through eyeliner that was so smeared that it would have been hideous on anyone. But apparently, unfairly sexy and pretty ikemen could only look like a sensual vampire bitch with his smoky, mysterious, sexy hungry vampire eyes.

Hijikata’s kimono had spread open beneath him, the wide sleeves hanging by his elbows, providing a perfect backdrop to display all of that ridiculous white torso and endless legs. The stupid, red underwear with its little mayo bottles should have looked silly, but instead, it draws the viewer’s eye like the brilliant scarlet dot in the centre of a monochromatic painting. Then, as if mere looks alone were not enough to test Gin-san’s resolve, the rising tent pressing up against that flimsy underwear like a red flag was just-

Gintoki solemnly straightened up. He tugged the obi-jime off his waist and dropped the little white rope next to his feet. The obi itself came off, causing the rest of the thick brocade cloth at his back to come tumbling down in a susurrus of cloth. The obi hit the floor with an audible thwack. Finally, there was only the cloth rope tying the kimono together, and when that was tugged away the kimono gaped open, revealing a vast expanse of skin and traditional loincloth underwear. When he reached for his wig, Hijikata said, “Leave it on,”

Gintoki eyed him for a moment. Hijikata smirked.

He left the wig on.

Then, he shrugged his shoulders and the white and pink kimono, along with the white inner clothes, fell off. The only thing he was wearing now was his wig, his makeup and loincloth. Hijikata was still tied up, but he unabashedly traced his toes up Gintoki’s ankle and up to his thigh, teasing the edges of the loincloth as he grinned, “I’ve always liked traditional clothes,”

Gintoki fell to his knees, their mouths found each other and Hijikata’s hands reached up to grab Gintoki’s chin with his thumbs and forefingers. Being tied up did nothing at all to quell his aggressiveness and he pushed upwards even as Gintoki pushed down. Gintoki tugged at the obi around Hijikata’s wrists and his nimble fingers freed those hands.

The juries’ still out on whether he had done the right thing when said hands began creeping their way around his waist and over his shoulders. They pressed their chests close as they exchanged soft, slurping kisses, smearing lipstick everywhere. Eventually, Hijikata traced his lips onto Gintoki’s shoulders and took a bite out of the fleshiest part of his arm. Trust this prickly baragaki to be a biter, Gintoki retaliated by sucking a mark on the nape of that lovely, crane-like neck. When Hijikata didn’t protest, he sucked another mark a little higher than the other one. Then a third mark just under his chin, causing Hijikata to protest with a high pitched giggle, “Stop! That tickles!”

The laughter sounded like bells in his ears and he wanted to hear more of it. So, he allowed his fingers to travel down, slipping around the toned waist to gently, ever so gently, ghost the pads of his fingers against taut skin. “No, stop!” Hijikata _cackled_ , twisting, trying to escape, but his arms were still caught in his kimono and Gintoki was sitting on most of it.

He was trapped. At Gintoki’s mercy.

Delighted, Gintoki pressed his fingers in with just a little _too little_ pressure and Hijikata spasm, his head striking Gintoki in the chin and causing him to see black spots before his eyes. Instead of being remorseful, Hijikata sniggered and attacked Gintoki’s waist instead. Unfortunately, Gintoki was just as dead outside as he was inside.

000000

Hijikata felt drunk, high. He had been given drugs once, by accident. Probably. One could never know with Sougo around. He had to entertain some high-level official, there was no flesh trade, but he had been ordered to be ‘friendly’. Someone had spiked his sake and he had spent the evening too high and giggly to care about anything. It felt incredible.

The crash later was miserable of course, but he had remembered the high. The men had looked terrified of him later that day. He had missed it, the high. He touched the surface of it when the sound of his sword sang out of its scabbard in battle. This all happened before he met Gintoki. After the drug high, the only thing that came close to it was the bloodlust of killing. When Gintoki broke his sword, before he even knew the perm head’s name, Gintoki had shattered his drug addiction.

From then on it was replaced by an obsession over Gintoki. Most of the time, he was too pissed off to even think about that single high he had reached… it was a secret shame he carried around his gut. A tension he tried to soothe with cigarettes, mayonnaise and duty. Perhaps, it was time to try something else now.

Hijikata grinned. Gintoki was dangerous. Part of what fuel this latest high was knowing that Gintoki could kill him if he wanted to. He could die trying to ride this white demon. “Yo-ro-zu-ya~” he sang, “let me play with you,”

He daringly slid the palm of his hand over the taut stomach, keeping eye contact as Gintoki frowned. He must seem insane now. No one had ever seen this side of him since… ever. Somehow, the combination of seeing himself with red lips under the harsh light of the bathroom and the heated kiss just now unleashed something terrible inside him.

Tonight, he will fuck Sakata Gintoki.

000000

Something was not right with Hijikata.

The grin on his face was just a little too wide, and his actions too bold. Things had been… wrong ever since he left the bathroom. Had he been drugged? Was there something off in the beer he had drunk just now? With all the amanto shit floating around, it was not surprising for something to be inevitably drugged or tampered with.

His introspection was interrupted when a calloused, agile hand kneaded itself against his groin. Soft kisses were being pressed against his neck again and those _legs._ The toes of those legs had slipped around him and were inching across his buttocks. Hijikata had tipped his body backwards, pulling Gintoki along with him by clasping those naughty hands at the back of Gintoki’s neck. 

Gintoki allowed himself to be pulled forward, falling onto his hands and knees over Hijikata. However, if he had any thoughts about being the dominant one here, well, the toes creeping up his thighs and sneaking under the ropes his loin cloth soon put that thought to rest. Maybe, thought Gintoki vaguely, he should just go with the flow…

Agile toes plucked at his loincloth and the next thing Gintoki knew, he was rubbing his bare cock against those little mayonnaise bottles. There was something highly erotic about rutting against another cock through soft worn cloth. Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead from the effort of keeping most of his weight, and that of Hijikata on his arms. Was this the little minx’s plans? To tire out Gin-san so that he could take advantage of him later?

Well, the joke’s on him, because Gin-san was strong and he could go on forever!

… …

He… couldn’t go on forever…

His arms were starting to vibrate from the effort of being kept in place too long and all Hijikata was doing, that selfish prick, was kissing and rubbing and clinging at Gintoki! He was about to collapse when a voice laughed breathily into his ear, “Let’s see how long you can last,”

Then, that evil bitch Hijikata wrapped his arms and legs around Gintoki and squashed their erections together. Gintoki’s face went purple and the only reason why his arms did not give out was that they had cramped up from having been held in place for too long! 

But the joke’s on Hijikata because an errant spasm later, Gintoki collapsed onto the stupid Mayora. Effectively squashing the man with the one-foot drop. Take that, Mayora!

However, instead of having his enthusiasm squashed, Hijikata merely smirked and with an agile twist, flipped their positions. Gintoki was now the one on his back looking up at a slightly looming Hijikata. Their lipstick had smeared down all the way to Hijikata’s chin, making him looked like some kind of cannibalistic serial killer with that light in his eyes…

“Um, Hijikata…” Gintoki began when Hijikata smoothed his hands over Gintoki’s chest, sliding all the way down to his crotch.

“Shh, just relax,” there was that blood-stained smirk again.

Somehow, it didn’t sit right with Gintoki.

“Wait, stop!”

Hijikata stopped. It was only then that Gintoki realised that he had accidentally shouted the last word out.

The smirked fell from Hijikata’s face. It was like a wall had slammed up between them. When he began to back away, Gintoki lurched up and tried to grab Hijikata’s hand. Only, his arms were pathetically weak from being forced to hold their collective weight up too long and he could only paw feebly at Hijikata.

“No, wait! I-” shit, what did he want? He had stopped Hijikata twice now. Did he want to have sex with Hijikata? What’s with this pathetic flip-flopping? He felt stupid trying to grab Hijikata’s arm over his own wilting erection with numb hands.

“Yorozuya,” Hijikata's voice was very even. “It’s alright, I should go back to the barracks anyway.”

“No!” the vehemence in Gintoki’s voice was unexpected. Gintoki felt sweat beaded on his forehead, “I mean, there’s no need for you to go. It’s late, you can j-just stay here.” Won’t you stay here?

The gaze from Hijikata was very measured. It’s the look he used when interrogating suspects. Gintoki had been the receiving end of that gaze more than a few times, but for some reason, he felt stripped bare by it now.

“I’m taking the first shower,” Hijikata finally said. He got up effortlessly, as though it was perfectly normal to just get up from the middle of a handjob to just shower or whatever. He turned around and very normally stride towards the bathroom. When the door closed, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room and Gintoki suddenly couldn’t breathe.

Shit, shit, shit, what had he done? What just happened? Is Hijikata going to stay? Is he leaving after a shower? He can’t leave the Yorozuya office looking like a cannibalistic serial killer after all, right?

While he was agonizing over this, the door suddenly opened again, rattling Gintoki out of his thoughts. “Hey, can I borrow a towel?”

“Oh, ah, sure!” Gintoki scrambled to his feet, finally noticing his own nude state, but decided to ignore it as he fetched spare towels. He tied one around his waist and handed one clean towel to Hijikata.

“So, um,”

The door closed in his face.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shi-

The door opened again. Nearly giving Gintoki a heart attack. Maybe there really was something weird inside his bathroom. Hijikata was looking at the ground, “Just so you know, I’m staying the night. So… yeah,”

The door shut again.

Well, shit. That answered his questions. Some of them at least.

Suddenly, Gintoki was aware of the clothes strewn around the room. In a flurry of activity, he began putting things away. Kimonos were hung up in hangers inside his room, cold Nilo thrown away and glasses cleaned; the kotatsu straightened and switched off. He rushed into his bedroom and set out the futon. He had only the one futon, but two blankets. Would Hijikata want pyjamas? Is he going to sleep in his boxers?

Then he remembered how Hijikata had shivered several times earlier that evening and set out two sets of pyjamas at the end of the futon. He had only straightened the futon three times when the bathroom door opened. He stiffened.

Wet footsteps padded over and Gintoki found himself standing at attention and smiling nervously as Hijikata stepped through the bedroom door. That was when he noticed his mistake.

He had only given Hijikata _one_ towel.

The stupid Mayora had elected to use the towel on his _head_!

Leaving the other head _dangling freely, ah, ah, ah, ah_!!!

He had no idea why he was surprised. It was such a _man_ thing to do, and Hijikata is nothing if not a manly man despite his hobby of dressing up as a woman with a tendency to put on too much lipstick, _and ohgodhyperventilating_!

“Oi, are you alright?” Hijikata had lowered the towel and, thankfully, wrapped it around his waist. “Hey, wha-”

Gintoki ducked around Hijikata and ran for the bathroom, “I’m _gonnashowernowbye_!”

When the bathroom door shut, Gintoki blinked and slapped himself on the forehead. Why had he run away like that? Is he a maiden? He’s a man too! When it came to dangly bits, he has them too! Gintoki glared down at his crotch. Somehow, the thing sprouting from the white curly patch of hair did not inspire the panic he had suffered when looking at those black pubes…

Wait, were they curly or straight?

Gintoki thumped his head against the door. Why hadn’t he taken a closer look?!

It did not take long for him to shower. Getting rid of the makeup was, ugh, he didn’t know how women could stand doing this every day. Finally, a thorough shower later, kami-sama, even if they didn’t do anything he wanted to smell good. He wanted Hijikata to _like_ sleeping with him. Maybe, he could offer his services as a portable hot water bottle. A nice smelling hot water bottle that cuddles.

“I’m a hot water bottle,” he muttered as he made sure to secure the towel around his waist before towelling his hair with a _spare_ towel. Hot water bottles do _not_ wonder about the state of other people’s pubes.

It wasn’t until he had stepped into his own bedroom, saw Hijikata wearing his pyjamas and tucked demurely under the blankets, that Gintoki realised a second issue. At the bottom of the futon were the second set of pyjamas. Gintoki would have to take off his towel in order to put on those pyjamas. He would have to show his pubes to Hijikata. Wait, hadn’t he already shown his pubes to Hijikata?

Hijikata blinked up at him from the futon. He looked soft and sleepy from the bath, his face squeaky clean and makeup free. “What are you doing there?” he slurred, patting the side of the futon. “Come to bed.”

…Gintoki was having a heart attack. That was the only explanation for the palpitations happening in his chest. He was going to die.

“Oi, Yorozuya?” Hijikata was starting to push himself up. This made the palpitations in Gintoki’s heart skyrocketed.

“C-coming!” the towels went flying and he got into his pyjamas in record time before diving under the covers.

When the blankets settled around them, Gintoki’s heart was still racing. It did not slow down when Hijikata scooted closer to plaster shamelessly against his side. “Why are you so warm?” a whine. Hijikata was whining. That’s so cute. Gintoki’s heart slowed down its pace. He put an arm around the dark-haired beauty in his bed and was gratified when Hijikata snuggled closer.

Gintoki was clearly a good hot water bottle.

Hot water bottle Gin was about to fall asleep when-

“Do you want to talk about this?”

Hijikata’s voice came from somewhere around the vicinity of Gintoki’s neck. Gintoki panicked slightly, hot water bottles don’t talk!

“It’s fine if you don’t want to, but I’d like to see you again,”

‘See you again’ had to be code for ‘date you properly’, right? Right?

“Um,” said, Gintoki intelligently. “Yeah, I- yes, good!”

“Okay,” amazingly enough, Gintoki could feel the curve of a smile against his neck.

“Okay.”

000000

“Good morning, Gin-chan!” 

“Ah, Kagura, Gin-san is probably still sleeping,”

“No, he isn’t, he’s making breakfast!”

“No!” surprised and a little worried, Shinpachi rushed into the Yorozuya office, and saw Gintoki putting plates of pancakes on the table.

Kagura had already made a thrilling sound and was helping herself to the largess. Before Shinpachi could properly brain the moment, the sound of flushing water echoed through the confined space. Thus far, all three of the Yorozuya staff were present. So who-?

All eyes fixed upon the bathroom door.

[At this point the bathroom door might as well be another character in the story, lol]

The door opened and revealed…

“Hijikata-san?”

“Tosshi!”

To his credit, Hijikata only paused for two seconds before reacting. He _was_ the subordinate of Gorilla-Stalker-san who often land them in weird and embarrassing situations. He was also the unfortunate superior of a certain Perverted Sadist who tried to kill him at every turn. So, he tended to be good at reacting well to unexpected situations.

For this particular situation, he went with the tried and true, pretend-nothing-was-wrong approach and raised a hand to wave at the Yorozuya kids. “Good morning,” normal, normal, normal, “welcome home.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Kagura exploded first.

“Who is this?! Who are you to welcome us home?! Are you my new mami?!” she turned on Gintoki. “Did you get married without letting us know?!” she was shaking Gintoki like a ragdoll. “Talk! You perm head!”

“C-calm down, Kagura. I’m sure there’s an explanation for this," Shinpachi was trying to be rational but failing. "There had better be an explanation for this!?”

“Why don’t we have breakfast first?” Hijikata was clearly an old hand at diffusing tensed atmospheres.

Two more plates have appeared on the table, and there were pancakes on all of the four plates. Kagura threw herself at the table and moved half a stack more of the pancakes onto her plate. Hijikata smiled, and turned a white squeezy bottle upside down over her pancake stack.

“No!” Shinpachi and Gintoki moved in unison. Gintoki grabbed for Hijikata’s wrist. Shinpachi shoved a different plate of pancakes under the squeezy bottle. There’s was loud ‘glop’ and mayonnaise drowned out one plate of pancake.

“What are you-”

“Sit down, sit down,” Gintoki more or less wrestled Hijikata into his chair.

Shinpachi quickly placed the mayonnaise laden pancake in front of the one person who actually enjoyed all that oil slick, “Here, have a pancake. Gin-san’s pancakes are really good.” He tried not to look directly at the plate of white wobbly.

There was a little more back and forth of plates, cutleries and condiments, but finally, all four were seated with their pancakes. Luckily, Gintoki had made the pancakes on autopilot and ended up with enough pancakes to at least slowdown Kagura’s eating pace.

While Hijikata seemed happily absorbed with his mayonnaise pancake, Shinpachi took this opportunity to telepathically question Gintoki with his eyes.

_What’s going on?_

_I’ll tell you later._

_Tell me now!_

_The situation is under control._

_What situation? Did you blackmail him?_

_No! What are you even-_

“You two had better not have unprotected sex,” said Kagura casually.

The three male species at the table spluttered.

“Kagura-chan!” Shinpachi was scandalized.

Hijikata cleared his throat, “We didn’t do anything that required protection.”

Kagura narrowed her eyes at him.

He stared back steadily at her.

She folded her arms and glared at him, “What are your intentions towards our Gin-chan?”

“Kagura!” Gintoki sounded horrified. He glanced quickly at Hijikata before flapping his arms at her, “W-we haven’t talked about this-”

“My intentions are perfectly honourable,”

… what is this? Is this a marriage meeting? A- an omiai?

“Humph, our Gin-chan requires a lot of care and effort. How much money do you bring in any way?” for some reason, Kagura’s impression of mature adults involved hitching one foot onto her chair and sticking a finger up and leering. Lots of leering.

Blue eyes gleamed, “Enough to ensure you have meat every day for as long as I’m working.” He paused, obviously calculating, “If you only eat one meat meal a day after I die, you could probably live on my savings for 10 more years.”

“Sold!” Kagura leaned over to pat Gintoki on the shoulder. “Here, you can have him.”

“Wait, just like that?” Gintoki protested.

“Oh, right,” Kagura turned to Shinpachi. “What other demands should we make?”

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Gintoki was horrified. They haven’t even cum in each other’s presence, but they’re talking about marriage now? Wait, could they even get married? Why is he thinking about marriage!?

Suddenly, he stood up, “Hijikata-kun is leaving,” he announced. “Because he has work, and so do we!” The kids protested, but he’s still the adult here. Time to take control of the situation. Gintoki hustled the other so-called adult, who looked as though he was having too much fun at Gintoki’s expense, out of his chair and towards the door.

“Bye, good talk!” Kagura yelled. “Take care of my boy!”

Hijikata waved at her, his smirky, cheeky face from last night resurfacing again. It was, Gintoki noted objectively, even more attractive without all the gunk on his face. In an effort to remain indifferent, he grumbled, “What are you smirking about anyway?”

“I was just thinking, you look nice without all that makeup,”

Gintoki hissed, “When did you become such a flirt?”

“Who’s a flirt?” Hijikata protested. “If anyone’s a flirt, it’s obviously you with your clingy self,”

“Who’s clingy? Obviously, you can’t keep your hands off my butt, you were practically all over it like rash,”

“Are you actually comparing me to rash?! Haaah?”

“If the itchy butt fits!!”

As the two descended into a quarrel, Kagura reached for Gintoki’s abandoned pancake and slurped it up with the strawberry jam it was buried under. Then, she stared at Shinpachi’s pancake. With a sigh, Shinpachi pushed his plate towards the local black hole.

“-you shitty perm! I’m leaving now!”

“Leave then! Shitty Mayora!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Stomping sounds. For a moment, the two kids stared at each other.

“Uh, should we be worried?”

Both of them scrambled to the genkan to peek out. At first, they couldn’t make out where the two so-called adults were, but when they finally spotted those two… they instantly regretted it.

“Gross!”

000000

“Gross!”

Gintoki tried to pull back, but Hijikata sucked at his bottom lip like one of those greedy catfish, “Ignore those brats.” He muttered when Gintoki managed to pull his lip away with a wet pop.

“Bastard, how dare you call my cute kids brats,” Gintoki protested half-heartedly before opening his mouth and slotting their lips together again.

They were kissing at the side of the building, just a couple of steps away from the same spot they had first kissed last night. Hijikata had been stomping away and Gintoki stomping after him. Then, Hijikata had pulled Gintoki into the narrow opening between the Yorozuya building and their next-door neighbour, and then somehow they were kissing each other.

“Hey,” Gintoki muttered between kisses. “Hm, it will be the 31st soon. Shall we, hmm,” kiss, kiss, “go to the shrine together?”

Kiss, kiss, “shrine?” the space was so narrow that it was unclear who was pushing who against the wall. 

Kiss, “you know, that place with the bell, make wishes,”

“Hmm,” kiss, “a bell, yes,”

Let’s sweeten the deal, thought Gintoki, as they sipped at the corners of each other’s lips, “We could… dress up, wear our… accessories…” he trailed off suggestively, giving Hijikata his best Paako-chan look.

Hijikata looked torn, “I can’t.”

“What?” Gintoki pulled away. Then he sighed, “Work?”

“You have no idea,” Hijikata sighed, slumping his whole body onto Gintoki’s. “It’s the same every year, year after year. Every single bloody new year there’s always some idiot going after the government, plant bombs here and there or go after the shogun.” He thumped Gintoki half-heartedly on the shoulder, “Tell Katsura to keep it down.”

“Uh, sure,” he was really not sure how to deal with Hijikata casually mentioning his connection with a known terrorist.

Arms came up to cling against his shoulders. Cling was the best word for it because Hijikata was currently putting most of his weight on Gintoki’s shoulders and going, rrrrrrrrggggghhhhh in pure frustration.

“I really want to go to a shrine visit with you…” aaaahh, spoilt Hijikata-kun is so cuuuutttee.

“There, there,” Gintoki found himself patting the shoulder of one Demon Vice-Commander who was currently growling against _his_ shoulder.

Silence.

There was no need for more words.

Suddenly, Hijikata tightened his arms around Gintoki.

000000

“Hey, Yorozuya,”

“Hmm?”

Somehow, it was much easier to address Gintoki’s ear than to say it to his face, “What are you doing on the 8th?”

“8th of January? Um, nothing, that’s two weeks from now, right?”

“10 days,” said Hijikata. He tightened his hold around Gintoki, “Listen, I have two premier tickets to the opening of a new film that day.”

Gintoki stiffened. “Wait, when you say new film do you mean, _that film_?"

“Yes,”

“That _anime_ film?”

“Oh my god, yes!”

“That Ginta-”

“Yes! _That anime film!_ Premiering on the 8th!”

“Yes!” Gintoki pushed against Hijikata’s shoulders and shook him a little, “Are you crazy? Of course, my answer is yes, it’s a date!”

His breath caught in his chest, Hijikata struggled to breathe normally for just a split second, but quickly brought himself under control. “Yes,” he said, “it’s a date.”

Gintoki’s already pink cheeks flushed red. “I mean, I mean yes, a date.”

Seeing Gintoki’s flustered face sent his confidence soaring. Hijikata’s heart rate steadied and he stepped back a little, putting a little space between them. He had to go to work soon, he probably won't be seeing Gintoki again until the 8th. With his back toward the entrance of the little alleyway they were hidden in, Hijikata Toushirou gave in to an unexpected impulse. He lifted Gintoki’s left hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss there.

He smiled.

“It’s a date.”


End file.
